Vocal Exercises for Singers

Ways to develop better vocal control using vocal exercises for singers

Vocal Exercises for Singers: There are a huge variety of vocal exercises for singers that can help develop & improve all round vocal performance.

Although you will achieve the best results by attending voice lessons with a qualified teacher, here are some simple vocal exercises for singers that can be done daily or just before a performance plus some key dos and don’ts!

Vocal Exercises for Singers

Please DO:

Stay hydrated, drink plenty of water.

Avoid stress & stay relaxed especially as you’re leading up to a performance.

Eat a well balance & healthy diet

Get plenty of sleep & rest

Train with a qualified teacher regularly.

Speak at a normal volume & comfortable pitch

Practice in the “right way” daily.

Seek medical advice if you have prolonged hoarseness.

Gently “walk” through new songs when you are first learning them.

Keep your voice at a comfortable “Speech Level” at all times when singing

Warm up properly before trying to sing with a lot of power or volume.

Please DON’T:

Belt or shout songs or force your voice in any way.

Practice the same mistakes over & over, you’ll only get better at them!

Cough excessively & clear your throat continually.

Consume dairy products, citrus fruits/juice, fizzy drinks, coffee or alcohol on or before the day of a performance.

Smoke.

Talk a lot on the day of a performance.

Try to sing with a bad cold/flu or laryngitis.

Try to sing if it hurts or feels difficult in any way.

Try to talk or shout over loud noise

Whisper loudly or sing in a “breathy” voice.

Scream.

Try to change your natural speaking or singing voice

Vocal Exercises for Singers

Vocal Exercises for Singers – Breath Control

Many singers fall into the trap that they must do endless breathing exercises to in order to sing well but this shouldn’t be the case.

Many of the breathing issues that singers encounter such as running out of breath before the end of phrases are far more often down to the internal muscles (the vocal cords & larynx) being made to function incorrectly & also how the air flow is distributed rather than the actual function of breathing being incorrect. It is however really important to get the basics right.

Make sure your shoulders are not rising when you breath. If they are this indicates shallow breathing & will result in too much air pressure onto your vocal cords. You’ll likely get an initial blast of volume followed by very little else as your breath & therefore your voice quickly runs out. The cycle will then continue & become very hard work.

Your breathing should start much lower down with your stomach & diaphragm muscles expanding like bellows. If your stomach goes in when you breathe in you’re doing it the wrong way round!

Lie on the floor, relax & breathe normally. You should notice as you breathe in your stomach & rib cage rise (inflate) & as you breathe out they get smaller again (deflate)

Practice doing short mini laughs with a breath in between – “Ha” breath “Ha” breath – “Ha” On every “Ha” makes sure the stomach is going in & on the breath going back out. Also practice this in slow motion to help develop control with your air pressure & flow. Think of squeezing a tube of toothpaste from the bottom up to keep that steady flow.

Vocal Exercises for Singers – Preparing Your Voice To Sing

You should never sing at full volume without fully warming up first. Failing to warm up your voice can result in damage and will only hinder your progress in the long run.

Vocal Exercises for Singers – The Lip Bubble

This should sound like you’re mimicking the sound of a car engine. Support your face around your jawline with your fingers, squish your lips together into a loose pucker & gently blow a “buh” sound into your lips so they vibrate.

Once you’ve mastered this, use scales, slides up & down as high & low as you can & even use them on the melody of a song you’re learning.

Vocal Exercises for Singers – Humming

Make a “mmm” sound in your own spoken voice like you’re agreeing with something or have just had something tasty to eat.

You should feel a gentle vibration in your throat & on your lips. Once you’ve mastered it & it feels really comfortable hum through various scales. Do this with broken up notes, 1 per note “mm mm mm” & also in 1 long “mmmmmmm” smoothly across the notes.

Avoid starting on an “H” as this indicates you’re over using breath & make sure your tongue stays down & doesn’t start pulling to the back of your throat.

Vocal Exercises for Singers

Vocal Exercises for Singers – ING

Say “sing” & sustain the ING part. This may feel a little nasal but that’s fine. Slide through scales, from low to high & vice versa & also around the melody of songs you’re working on. As with the humming exercise don’t overuse breath & keep your tongue relaxed & as flat as is comfortable.

Vocal Exercises for Singers – Perfect Your Vowels

Vowels have major impact on anything you sing as they are the sounds that are sustained & showcase the unique tone of your voice so they need to be controlled effectively.

Many singers find themselves modifying the sound & shape of a vowel dramatically to make it easier to reach certain notes or in some cases to copy the style of another singer.

Practice the most common vowels found in the words you sing & work on maintaining a more consistent mouth shape to produce them naturally rather than manipulating your mouth, tongue & jaw to try to create them.

A good starting point is a nice narrow O shape then work individually & in turn across the following:

EE as in See, OO as in Soon, EH as in Stare, Oh as in Snow, I as in Sky & AH as in Star

Use 1 sustained note & 4 or 5 note scales up & down. Again, careful you don’t add any “Hs” to lever the sound out & keep that tongue relaxed.

Vocal Exercises for Singers – Diction

It’s vital an audience can understand what you are singing so make sure you don’t get lazy with annunciation. Add consonants into your vowel exercises to crisp up your diction, they also help with breath control as they will create stops in the air flow at different points within your mouth & throat.

There are many variations to choose from but B, C, D, F, G, M, N are very effective.

Vocal Exercises for Singers – “Speak” Singing

Your voice is at its most relaxed when you’re speaking in your own natural voice so try bringing it together with your singing voice. Work on tricky parts of songs in shorter more spoken way whilst maintaining the melody.

It will sound & feel rather soulless & formal but gradually you can start sustaining notes & adding more of your own singing style back in. You’ll be amazed how much easier it feels!

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